Big drama today – for me at least.

However, Mick was quite nonplussed

My laptop finally gave up the ghost which means posting on my blog has just become so much harder and slower.

So that could turn out to be a bonus for at least one of my sons; my posts will now be shorter and more pictorial.

We still have two and a half weeks of our holiday to go and two more wine regions.

Today I decided I would walk up to the Chapelle Saint-Christophe.

Google obviously chose the quickest route for me, but it was not the easiest.

It started out fine.

I was walking in amongst the vines and observed some workers pruning vines and repairing stakes.

Small stone buildings provide refuge for workers and their tools. But no one was using this today.

Halfway up there was a viewing point and I hoped that Mick was on the balcony at our little apartment.

But there was no sign of him. The last 200 metres became very steep and the gravel made it a bit hazardous. But I made it OK.

“According to legend, the Knight Gaspard de Stérimberg adopted the life of a recluse here on the hillsides of Tain l’Hermitage after his return from the crusades.”

The chapel is now dedicated to Saint Christopher (patron of travellers) and was rebuilt in 1864. It became the property of the Jaboulet Family in 1919. Last night we enjoyed some of the wines made by this family at their little bar in the town square.

I decided against returning the same way I’d come. I could see lots of other roads used by work vehicles and thought it would be safer to use those where I could, rather than skidding down the hill on my derrière. The return journey was double the distance, but most pleasant.

Later in the afternoon we went for a glass of wine, back to the Jaboulet wine bar. Tonight was Halloween and there were quite a lot of children dressed appropriately for the occasion.

I hate Halloween!!

But I was impressed with the efforts the parents had made to prepare their children for the festival.

This train was filled with little people all excited about Halloween; dressed in all sorts of costumes.

We finished our stay here with a glass of Saint Joesph and Crozes-Hermitage. Both excellent.

Mick made a pie out of the left over rabbit casserole for dinner and we opened a bottle of Cornas. Amazing.

You can’t say we haven’t tried to taste all the crus from here. It was our duty.

And my favourite was Hermitage.

We’re off to the Southern Rhône in the morning.